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Letters / Not a happy prospect

I have now had time to chat to a few west side folk. As always most Shetlanders are charming, it is difficult to gauge feedback when folk are so polite.

In Weisdale and Whiteness one of the most noticeable points was many folk do not realise the way the valley will look after Viking. Quite apart from the converter station at upper Kergord, which in itself is massive, ugly and too big to fit in an Olympic Stadium, there will be cabling all over the valley.

We are assured this will be buried; initially it will be, however there is already talk of a second cable to take offshore generated power. Then in time many, many more. I cannot see all being buried, it will be far too expensive.

Initially the output cables may be underground, however many pylons will have to straddle the valley to take input power from offshore, as Weisdale becomes a power hub for onshore and offshore development. Not a happy prospect.

The Salmond/Ewing plan for Shetland envisages over 1,000 square miles of offshore generation for Shetland alone, all coming to Kergord.

On a slightly different note I was surprised to note, Mr Drew Ratter, one of the initial instigators of the VE project, fails to make a reference of it in his manifesto. For one so close to this project I must ask him why he is now so coy about it.